Big kids battle for gold: US vs. Canada a titanic showdown of hockey powerhouses
MILAN — Dylan Larkin has been thinking about the U.S. facing Canada for gold at the Olympics for a year. All the dreams he had as a kid crystalized after he and his teammates lost to their rival in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I’ve thought about it so much,” Larkin said. “It’s what everyone wanted, this matchup in a gold-medal game. Yeah, I’ve thought about it a lot.”
Those thoughts become reality Sunday when the North American countries that have become the preeminent global hockey powerhouses face off in a titanic final of a best-vs.-best tournament with many of the NHL’s biggest stars. The U.S. against Canada on the biggest stage in sports should be hard-hitting, quick-skating, must-see entertainment.
“It’s gonna be a big-boy game,” Canada’s Tom Wilson said. “It’s going to be as fast and physical and skilled as you can ever imagine. Right now it’s the two big countries for hockey in the world. Every single guy is going to be doing everything they can at every single moment.”
Canada and the U.S. entered the tournament as the favorites and played like it. Each team went undefeated, winning all five games, with the U.S. outscoring opponents 24-8 and outshooting them 201-124 and Canada 27-8 and 202-106.
“It’s two of probably the best teams ever, maybe,” U.S. winger Matthew Tkachuk said. “We’ve got a lot of respect for the players over there and what they’ve done in the past, and we want to be the team that comes out on top.”
There were some scares and nervous moments along the way: Canada needed late tying goals to get past Czechia in overtime in the quarterfinals and Finland in the semifinals, while the U.S. also gave up the lead late against Sweden before winning in OT.
Unlike the preliminary round, the U.S. and Canada have each been tested facing elimination.
“It hasn’t been the smoothest quarters and semis for us,” said Canada’s Connor McDavid, the leading scorer at the Olympics with an NHL player-record 13 points. “But I think that adversity is good. Going through that has brought us closer. You can definitely feel that in the group, it’s been been fun to play in those games.”
In the previous two Olympics the NHL participated in, Canada took home gold. In 2014, the team never trailed. In 2010, Sidney Crosby scored in overtime to defeat the U.S. and win on home ice.
Canada has won three of the five Games with NHL players to give it a record nine gold medals. Hockey was born in Canada, and the expectation is always to be the best in the world at it.
“You always feel that responsibility as a Canadian,” Wilson said. “We want to be the best. It’s been our game for a long time. The guys that are pulling the jersey on, it’s our responsibility to go out there and try and prove why we’re the best and why we should be the best. And continue to be the best.”
Arguably the best Canadian Olympian in history, Crosby, may not play because of an injury that knocked him out of the quarterfinals. Coach Jon Cooper did not show his hand over whether Crosby will be available.
“Obviously we’d love to have him,” Cooper said.
The U.S. got an injury scare of it’s own in the semifinals against Slovakia when winger Tage Thompson, the former UConn star, left after blocking a shot. Thompson, who is tied for the team lead in goals with three, practiced Saturday and did not look to be hampered at all.
Meanwhile, the last American men’s hockey gold medal at the Olympics was 46 years ago in Lake Placid. The 1980 team of college players pulled off the “Miracle on Ice,” beating the heavily favored Soviet Union on the way to authoring one of the most talked-about underdog stories in sports history.
None of the players on this U.S. team were alive to see it; coach Mike Sullivan was about to turn 12. The reverence for that team remains as the current generation of players seek to join the likes of Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig in USA Hockey lore.
“It’s unbelievable,” said forward Brock Nelson, whose uncle Dave Christian was on the 1980 team. “It’s exciting. The adrenaline, the chills, everything. This is kind of what you dream about as a kid and why you want to play the game.”
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